1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to energy generation devices. Specifically, and not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to a system and method for generating wind power from a vertical structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the current energy crisis, it is imperative that alternate sources of energy be developed for the generation of electric power. Windmills have provided a valuable source of alternative energy. There have been many improvements and various configurations of windmills utilized over the years. Generally, there are two basic types of windmills. In a first type, a horizontal windmill has a horizontal rotation axis which rotates on the top of a supporting post. The front edge of the rotation axis typically includes a plurality of blades having a propeller shape. The second type of windmill is a vertical windmill which has a vertical rotation axis provided with a plurality of longitudinal blades having a radial shape. However, for both types of windmills must be positioned out in open spaces or upon towers above the ground.
For windmills located in open spaces, the windmills must be located away from populated areas. Transmission of generated energy can be extremely costly making the use of these windmills inefficient and cost-ineffective. For windmills located on towers, the towers are constructed solely for use by the windmills. The construction costs for constructing these towers adds to the overall cost in implementing such windmills.
In addition, it is beneficial to locate turbines in areas where wind speed is consistently high because the amount of electrical energy that can be generated increases as the square of wind speed. It has been observed that wind speeds tends to be high on rooftops because of the effect of combining the prevailing wind across the rooftop with the updraft that moves around and over a building. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a combining effect of a prevailing wind 111 upon a vertical structure. The prevailing wind 111 combines with a updraft (or updraft) 122 at a roofline 133 of a building 144 to produce a combined wind 155 that has a speed greater than either the prevailing wind or the updraft.
Thus, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus which utilizes the combined wind to efficiently produce electricity. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus and method.